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Southwest Airlines’ Attendant Makes Trip Worthwhile For Gooch Family

Submitted by Caroline Robinson on Mon, 01/04/2016 - 04:22

Anissa, a flight attendant with Southwest Airlines, is receiving worldwide appreciation for her assistance to a passenger. Annisa came like a blessing for Heather Gooch, who boarded the flight with her 9-month-old son. Gooch was as stressed as any mother would be during her first flight with her baby. But, Annisa made sure that the flight was a memorable one.

CBS News was told by the mother of Aiden that he didn’t want to sit with her or her husband; just about 45 minutes after the plane took off. The kid failed to sit still, when Anissa walked by the couple. The kid got excited to see her and the flight attendant very generously offered to hold the baby. Heather Gooch gave Aiden to Anissa.

Gooch added that she was surprised to see how happy Aiden was with the attendant. Gooch stated that just after 10 minutes, the baby was all happy and smiling and waving to all the passengers. Gooch posted her experience on the Facebook page of the airlines, a day after returning home to Levittown in New York from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She wrote that she is writing this post to tell Anissa that her efforts are appreciated. She added that people mostly post negative experiences, but she wanted to write about someone who made her trip easier.

"Her kindness and helpfulness made the Gooch family's trip brighter, and it's that type of focus on hospitality that makes the Southwest travel experience an incredible one for so many of our customers," said Sonya Lacore, Southwest Vice President for Cabin Services.

The DailyMail notes that, Gooch then said that her son's mood became jovial and he waved to everyone on the plane. Gooch called Southwest Airlines to make sure that the flight attendant got the recognition she deserved but was tired of waiting on the phone and listening to the busy signal. Instead, Gooch posted on Southwest Airline's Facebook page instead so that she could let Anissa know how much she cared.

In other news CBS News reported, as Heather Gooch boarded a plane with her 9-month-old son, she felt what nearly every mom feels during their baby's first flight: stressed. Shortly after her flight took off, she felt like a weight had been lifted -- thanks to a special flight attendant. When Southwest Airlines flight attendant Anissa noticed the little boy getting antsy, she offered to hold him.

"About 45 minutes into the flight, Aiden didn't want any part of sitting with us," Gooch told CBS News, adding her husband was sitting next to her. "He couldn't sit still. Anissa happened to be walking by, and Aiden got so excited to see her. She looked and me and asked me if I minded if she held him."

In a statement provided to ABC News, Gooch says she called Southwest Airlines after the flight to make sure the flight attendant, who she knew only as Anisse, got recognized for her thoughtful deeds, but gave up when she got a busy signal.

Gooch turned instead to Facebook, where she posted on Wednesday a description of the incident and a photo of the flight attendant holding her son in the aisle.

"After we took off he started getting fussy and people were looking at us and I thought, ‘Oh great,’” Gooch recalled. “She caught my eye and she said, ‘Do you mind?,’ and picked him up and walked with him up and down the aisle.”